Being prepared means having the funds to cover your stay

August 16, 2017

3096

views

Tickets? Check. Money? Check. Passport? Check’ – it’s a common phrase that many of us had drilled in to us by our parents when we first started to travel overseas. And for good reason too – being prepared means you can enjoy your dream holiday from the moment you get off the plane.

You may have read recently that tourists entering Thailand need to be able to prove that they have adequate finances for their stay in the Kingdom. This has been the case since 1979, when the Immigration Act of Thailand came into effect.

As well as making sure your passport is valid for at least six months, and that you have a round-trip air ticket, here’s a helpful reminder of the funds you need to have to cover your stay:

If you hold a tourist visa: finances equivalent to at least 20,000 Baht per person or 40,000 Baht per family.

If you’ll be applying for a visa on arrival: at least 10,000 Baht per person or 20,000 Baht per family.

As each tourist arrives in Thailand – regardless of their port of entry – Thai Immigration Officers may conduct random inspections to make sure they’ve prepared these funds. If tourists are not able to prove that they have this, the officers will consider case-by-case whether to allow entry. After a tourist has been granted entry and has passed through the immigration checkpoints, no random inspections will take place.

Apart from preparing these funds, what else can you do to be prepared?

Most importantly, make sure you have the right visa. In general, foreign tourists need get a visa from a Royal Thai Embassy or a Royal Thai Consulate-General.

But, if you’re a citizen of 42 countries (check out the website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand for the list) and coming to Thailand as a tourist, you may be eligible to stay in the Kingdom for up to 30 days without a visa.

With your checklist complete, all that’s left is to enjoy all the Kingdom of Smiles has to offer!